NORTHERN MPs are demanding a crisis meeting with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to press for a fairer funding deal for the region.

A group, to be made up of representatives from Durham, Teesside, Newcastle and Tyne and Wear, will put forward a last-minute bid to redress the £130m a year gap before the Government decides on how it will in future fund spending on local services.

The demand for a meeting with Mr Prescott emerged after a gathering of Northern MPs at the House of Commons with Councillor Tony Flynn, chairman of the Association of North-East Councils.

Stockton South MP Dari Taylor said: ''We are very concerned that the messages coming out of Government are that there are significant areas, particularly social services and education, which will fall short of necessary funding.

''There may not be enough for the elderly and their families, and education funding could be less than is needed to cope with retraining in areas of regeneration."

Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford has already promised that the new formula, due to be imposed in April, will aim to even out discrepancies between the North and the much richer South.

Coun Flynn said an extra £130m a year was needed to bridge the funding gap.

Last July, ministers signalled that police, fire and other key North-East council services would be in line for a cash injection under the new plans to overhaul local government finance.

Although no final decisions will be announced until December, the MPs last night said a meeting with Mr Prescott was crucial within a fortnight, as they believed ministers would make their final decisions in a few weeks